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Spammer extradited to Connecticut from Spain

The alleged operator of a global spam network was extradited to the United States from Spain to face charges, according to the Department of Justice.

Peter Yuryevich Levashov, 37, of St. Persburg, Russia, has been detained since April 7, 2017, in Spain. He was arrested by authorities in Spain on a criminal complaint and arrest warrant issued by the District of Connecticut.

Levashov also went by the names Petr Levashov, Peter Severa, Petr Severa and Sergey Astakhov.

He was arraigned at 6 p.m. on Friday in Bridgeport.

The Russian national allegedly operated a global network known as Kelihos botnet. The network included tens of thousands of infected computers, that the DOJ said Levashov used to facilitate malicious activities. Among those activities, the DOJ said, was gathering login credentials, distributing bulk s pam emails and installing ransomware.

An eight-count indictment explains that the âbotnetââ" a network of hijacked computers â" allowed a third party to control the entire computer network without the consent or knowledge of the computer owners. The DOJ said the network would send out more than 2,5000 unsolicited spam emails on a daily basis.

Using Kelihos botnet, the DOJ said Levashov obtained usersâ email addresses, user names, logins and passwords. Furthermore, the indictment said he spread spam and distributed other malware â" like banking Trojans and ransomware.

âLevashov is alleged to have controlled and operated the Kelihos botnet which was used to distribute hundreds of millions of fraudulent emails per year, intercept credentials to online and financial accounts belonging to thousands of Americans, and spread ransomw are throughout our networks,â said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan.

The indictment alleged that, for years, Levashov profited from controlling the botnet.

On April 10, 2017, the DOJ announced it had taken action against Kelihos botnet to dismantle the network.

Ten days later, a grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment charging Levashov with one count of causing intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of conspiracy, one count of accessing protected computer in furtherance of fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of threatening to damage a protected computer, one count of aggravated identity theft and two count of fraud in connection with email.